The Cobra MkIII is a classic all-purpose ship found throughout human space. The model was first built in Lave Cowell & McGrath shipyard in Lave in 3100. Despite its age, it remains a popular ship for lone pilots who value its balance of carrying capacity and ability in combat.

— In-Game Description

The Cobra MkIII is a larger and more popular version of the original Cobra MkI. It was first seen in service in 3100 AD, originally manufactured by Cowell & McGrath Shipyard, Lave. Since Cowell & McGrath's acquisition by Faulcon DeLacy it is now branded as a Faulcon DeLacy made ship.

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The pilot's seat of the Cobra MkIII is to the left of the centre of the ship, and has the co-pilot's to the right. It is a multipurpose ship and as such is designed to perform adequately in all roles.

The Cobra's carrying capacity, being more than double that of the Hauler and Adder, and its cost, being almost one third that of the Type-6, makes it a logical stepping stone for aspiring traders as there is no other ship capable of hauling more cargo at the Cobra's size and cost. If the MkIV is not an option then it can remain viable due to its small landing pad requirment. In addition it has much better combat potential than freighters and can defend itself or run away from hostile interdictions.

In combat the Cobra MkIII is quite potent. It has impressive damage output and defences for its price tier and it is very powerful when outfitted and engineered correctly, making it good at both Bounty Hunting and Pirating. The downside of this ship is the combat ability relative to other ships. For bounty hunters who are attempting to tackle skilled opponents the Cobra MkIII can be outmanoeuvred by Eagle MkIIs and Viper MkIIIs, however, its large cargo bay makes it more viable for pirates.

As a Miner the MkIII is very effective. More hardpoints, compartments and cargo space than the Adder make it very effective at its job and can even bring along Limpets due to the extra space. It can be a good stepping stone for Miners until the Keelback becomes an option.

Overall the Cobra MkIII is a very popular ship for good reason; it is a jack-of-all-trades capable of performing very well in any role and essentially functions as a much cheaper Python, making it a good stepping stone for every kind of player.

The weapon hardpoints are located as follows: 2 medium hardpoints in front of cockpit on top of ship, 2 small hardpoints on the underside of the ship. The distance between the two small hardpoints is sizable, which may cause some trouble when mounting multiple fixed weapons since it's hard to hit with all of them at the same time.

An upgraded version named the Cobra MkIV was released alongside Horizons. It sacrifices mobility for more armour and damage output as well as more internal compartments. It is only avaible to PC and Xbox players who bought the expansion during its first year.

The Cobra MkIII has an available 16 piece cosmetic ship kit that can be purchased from the Frontier store, allowing you to "remodel your ship in your personal style". The ship kit is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay in any way.

The Cobra MkIII has the most amount of Livery options of any ship. Somewhat ironically, the Cobra MkIV has the fewest.

The Cobra MkIII has gone through several design iterations. An example of an older iteration from over a century ago can be found at a crash site at the coordinates -54.3, -50.3 on HIP 12099 1 B. It was the personal ship of the famed CMDR John Jameson, who was hired by the Intergalactic Naval Reserve Arm near the end of the first Thargoid conflict to deploy the mycoid bio-weapon against the alien invaders. CMDR Jameson's ship was secretly sabotaged by INRA to ensure he did not return from his mission, however.